Biden signs executive order mandating a 100-day review of supply chains, including for semiconductors used in products from cars to phones and rare-earth metals (Alex Leary/Wall Street Journal)

Alex Leary / Wall Street Journal:
Biden signs executive order mandating a 100-day review of supply chains, including for semiconductors used in products from cars to phones and rare-earth metals  —  The president signed an executive order with the aim of eventually increasing domestic production of critical materials

Australia passes news bargaining code that will require digital platforms like Google and Facebook to pay local media outlets and publishers for their content (Daniel Van Boom/CNET)

Daniel Van Boom / CNET:
Australia passes news bargaining code that will require digital platforms like Google and Facebook to pay local media outlets and publishers for their content  —  Australia on Wednesday passed a new media law that had generated noisy pushback from internet giants Google and Facebook …

Microsoft announces industry cloud packages for financial services, available in March, and for manufacturing and nonprofits, available in June (Cherlynn Low/Engadget)

Cherlynn Low / Engadget:
Microsoft announces industry cloud packages for financial services, available in March, and for manufacturing and nonprofits, available in June  —  new Industry Cloud service with a suite of tools for the healthcare sector last year and unveiling a Retail-specific version in January, Microsoft is ready to introduce more areas of focus.

GameStop shares closed up nearly 104% on Wednesday, halting twice for volatility; GameStop said on Tuesday its CFO will resign; stock up 80%+ after hours (Maggie Fitzgerald/CNBC)

Maggie Fitzgerald / CNBC:
GameStop shares closed up nearly 104% on Wednesday, halting twice for volatility; GameStop said on Tuesday its CFO will resign; stock up 80%+ after hours  —  - GameStop announced Tuesday that its chief financial officer Jim Bell will resign on March 26.  — Sources familiar …

Optimism, which plans to help scale the Ethereum blockchain with a Layer 2 protocol, raises $25M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz (Michael McSweeney/The Block)

Michael McSweeney / The Block:
Optimism, which plans to help scale the Ethereum blockchain with a Layer 2 protocol, raises $25M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz  —  Optimism, a startup focused on the scalability of the Ethereum blockchain network, has raised a $25 million Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz.

France eyes new regulation to restrict early renewal of smartphones

French telecoms operators Orange, Bouygues Telecoms and Altice Europe's SFR have for years been luring new customers by providing brand new smartphones in exchange for contractual commitments for a certain period of time, up to two years. https://ift.tt/3aLuYaQ